Welding systems utilize welding wires of many different sizes for use with welding guns during a welding operation. These welding wires are typically provided on different sized spools by welding wire manufacturers. When preparing spools of welding wires, the winding process begins with an operator first placing a single spool on the mounting spindle of a winding machine followed by locking the spool using a locking mechanism so that the spool remains in the proper orientation during the winding process. Once the spool is locked into its proper orientation, the operator's next step is to place the inserted first end of an often rigid welding wire into an entry hub or aperture in the spool, followed by manually bending the first end of the welding wire so that it hooks to the entry hub and holds the welding wire in place during the winding process. The next step is to start the winding process. Operators often elect to wind one spool at a time because of alignment problems caused when attempting to wind multiple spools. This alignment problem arises when the operator hooks the first end of the welding wire in the first spool, with subsequent rotation of the winding machine's spindle so that it is possible to hook the first end of another welding wire in a second spool. This requires the operator to rotate the spindle causing wire to prematurely wind on the first spool in order to align the entry hub on the second spool. If a third spool is desired, a second rotation is required to align the entry hub on the third spool, thereby causing a second premature winding of wire on the first spool and a first premature winding on the second spool and so on. Having to rotate the spools once welding wire is secured to the entry hub is undesirable, because it leads to an unequal amount of welding wire being wound on each spool once the winding process is complete, that is the first spool will have more wire that the subsequent spools because the starting point is different. Additionally, having multiple spools proximate to one another does not provide space for operator to hook the finishing end of the welding wire to the spool.
It is thus desirable to provide a device that interconnects multiple spools for simultaneous winding, provides an easy method of aligning the entry hubs of the multiple spools, prevents the outer flanges of the multiple spools from bowing during the winding process, and for providing access to the finishing hub once at the end of the winding process is complete.